Chargers claim Johnny Patrick off waivers

Posted by Josh Alper on February 20, 2013, 5:08 PM EDT

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The Saints cut bait on cornerback Johnny Patrick less than two years after they made him a third-round pick, but the NFL waiver wire has once again shown that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Or at least another man’s opportunity to take a look at a 24-year old player deemed worthy of an early-round draft pick in the recent past.

The Chargers put in a successful waiver claim for Patrick on Wednesday and he is now part of their 90-man roster. It’s not a great sign for Patrick that he wasn’t able to keep a job with the Saints’ oft-toasted secondary despite an inexpensive $550,000 salary, but there have been other players to flop in their first stop and then find a role with another team down the line.

Antoine Cason and Quentin Jammer are each set to become free agents in San Diego, leaving the Chargers with Marcus Gilchrist and Shareece Wright as experienced corners in their system. If both Cason and Jammer leave the team, Patrick could work himself into the mix when offseason work gets underway.

Better to give the Saints #4-5 corner 550k to be a backup than to give the Saints #4-5 receiver 10’s of mil to be a backup (Robert Meachem). With a little work, Patrick can shut down Meachem in drills.

The Chargers will take a look at him and see if he’s any good. If not he won’t make it past mini camp. Remember, Wes Welker was picked up after the Chargers let him go and we all know how that turned out.